Newbie looking for advice.

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
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adamd2984
Posts: 1
Joined: 13 Jun 2018, 12:00pm

Newbie looking for advice.

Post by adamd2984 »

Afternoon,

Newbie here looking for some advice. I used to mountain bike years ago (like 15 years ago) and have not really ridden since.

I am keen to get back into riding but not mountain biking. I am potentially looking for a bike to commute and also take out on road rides around town. I am not a fan of drop bar road bikes so was potentially looking at going for either a flat bar road bike or a hybrid to get the best of both worlds.

Initially I am not looking at spending the earth so thought it might be a good shout to go for a decent used bike (couple of years old) and then upgrade when I know what I want.

I was looking at going for a Boardman as I know they are a decent spec and have a couple of mates that are happy with them.

What I should go for??
Airsporter1st
Posts: 784
Joined: 8 Oct 2016, 3:14pm

Re: Newbie looking for advice.

Post by Airsporter1st »

adamd2984 wrote:Afternoon,

Newbie here looking for some advice. I used to mountain bike years ago (like 15 years ago) and have not really ridden since.

I am keen to get back into riding but not mountain biking. I am potentially looking for a bike to commute and also take out on road rides around town. I am not a fan of drop bar road bikes so was potentially looking at going for either a flat bar road bike or a hybrid to get the best of both worlds.

Initially I am not looking at spending the earth so thought it might be a good shout to go for a decent used bike (couple of years old) and then upgrade when I know what I want.

I was looking at going for a Boardman as I know they are a decent spec and have a couple of mates that are happy with them.

What I should go for??


I'm a fairly new newbie myself and one thing I have learnt the hard way is the importance of correct bike fit. For that reason I would be careful about buying secondhand, unless you can give it a good try first or can maybe go to a local bike shop and get fitted for the same make and type as you intend to buy s/h.

You seem to have landed on a hybrid, which is what I did. A Boardman was definitely on my shortlist, but I eventually went for a similarly specced Pinnacle, because I liked the internal cable routing (which seems to be a Marmite choice).

I think you would need to give the folk on here an idea of your budget, if you want some meaningful suggestions.
crazydave789
Posts: 584
Joined: 22 Jul 2017, 10:21pm

Re: Newbie looking for advice.

Post by crazydave789 »

if you know what bike and sizes fit you then you have a good start as you know whether you like a tight or loose riding position. if you were quite keen as a mountain biker then you know mountain bikes from that period and I'd just continue where you left off.

I started as a roadie as a kid then in my 20s changed to a marin for road use putting some massive tioga city slickers and a girvin flex stem on there with an antler bar end arrangement to stretch out when I wanted to. this gave me a fast commuter capable of off roading or short touring which I also did. repeated thefts made me stop.

coming back in my 40s I picked up a second hand little used marin last year and again modified it to be a tourer but this time used butterfly bars, it came with suspension forks like they all do so I decided to keep them as they lock out. I might not be able to do the 25 miles an hour I could do on the old bike but that's my fault not the bike.

if you go second hand then you can get an expensive bike cheap and change what you need also cheap. a lot of middle aged men or retirees buy expensive bikes to potter about on in an attempt to get fit, it usually doesn't last and the bikes go into storage for a while.

Marins have an odd reputation as an old mans bike for some reason, odd but that suits me fine. I wanted to try disk brakes otherwise I'd have picked up an old steel framed bear valley or similar, buying new I'd probably go and find a decathlon to look their bikes over as they are well specced and good value.
Marcus Aurelius
Posts: 1903
Joined: 1 Feb 2018, 10:20am

Re: Newbie looking for advice.

Post by Marcus Aurelius »

The Boardman MX Comp is a cracking bike for the money. I’ve had one for about 3 years, and I can’t fault it.


http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/h ... 4cm-frames

It’s basically a 29er hardtail, with road gearing. It’s superb VFM, and can go off road easily if needs be.

Here’s mine, tackling the worst ‘storm Emma’ could chuck at it earlier this year.
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